The Supreme Court has re-listed for hearing a matter in which it had recently taken exception to a ruling by Justice Prashant Kumar of the Allahabad High Court, who had allowed criminal prosecution in a dispute arising from a commercial transaction.
The case, which had been marked as disposed on August 4, now appears on the Supreme Court’s causelist for further hearing this Friday. The matter has drawn attention not just for its legal implications, but also for the unprecedented administrative direction issued by the Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan.
In its August 4 order, the Supreme Court expressed concern over the High Court’s reasoning and observed that criminal proceedings should not be used as a means to recover dues in what is essentially a civil dispute. The Bench directed that Justice Prashant Kumar should not be assigned criminal matters for the rest of his tenure and, if required to sit singly, should only hear non-criminal cases.
“The concerned judge shall not be assigned any criminal determination, till he demits office,” the Court said, also requesting the High Court Chief Justice to place him on a Division Bench with a senior judge.
Background of the Case
The proceedings stem from a complaint filed by a supplier who alleged that a portion of the payment—₹4.59 lakh—remained outstanding after supplying thread worth ₹52.34 lakh to M/S Shikhar Chemicals. The petitioner had moved the High Court to quash the criminal complaint, stating the dispute was commercial in nature and lacked the ingredients of a criminal offence.
However, in a May 5 order, Justice Prashant Kumar rejected the plea, expressing the view that insisting on a civil suit could cause delays and that criminal proceedings were justified in such a context.
This reasoning was not accepted by the Supreme Court, which noted that the High Court’s approach seemed to blur the line between civil and criminal remedies. The Court remarked that permitting criminal prosecution in such cases solely due to the length of civil litigation would be legally unsustainable.
The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s order and directed that the matter be reconsidered afresh by another judge.
Roster Changes in High Court
Following the apex court’s direction, the Allahabad High Court made interim changes to the judicial roster. Justice Prashant Kumar is now scheduled to sit with Justice M.C. Tripathi to hear writ petitions related to land acquisition and environmental matters on August 7 and 8. Meanwhile, criminal cases previously assigned to him are now listed before Justice Dinesh Pathak.
